Day 1: First Day in Sidsar

Impressed. One word to sum up my first day at school, impressed. Yes there is work to be done and there is always room to be better, but I am impressed, and I believe dad feels the same way.

A little more about the school:

Shree Vijapura Vidhya Sankul is in Sidsar, Gujarat, India. It is a full time boarding school for grades 6-10th grade with a 1-5th local day school (from surrounding villages within 20 kilometers). There are smaller 10th and 11th grades but a larger scale will be added in the years to come along with a 12th grade. There are about 600 students total with 400 being boys and 200 being girls. And it is the first year for girls as a part of the Brilliant Student Program. The Brilliant Student Program here had over 6,800 applicants of which 360 passed the exam and were accepted and they joined the existing 240 students already here. It is a full time school run by the head of the school Dr. Padhiyar and the teachers who live here and some who commute. As a part of the new initiative and for the best available opportunities and education, all 16 classrooms are fitted with smartboards and  students have access to tablets. It is a Gujarati-medium school with English beginning to be heavily integrated and taught on a daily basis with some influence on it's education system from the United States. The school has four main buildings, the school itself, the admin building, the hostel, and the cafeteria. It really is a beautiful campus and a school that offers so much.  

Dr. Padhiyar leading his class for teachers.

Our time at the school began midday today; once we got here we tiptoed our way to the back of a lecture that Dr. Padhiyar was giving to the teachers. He was talking about the development of students and pushing and encouraging those who are not as academically inclined or those who aren't as motivated. He brought up great points and ideas like not pushing your ideas onto students but pulling the students ideas out of themselves and finding different ways to motivate them. This was when I was introduced and was given the first opportunity to speak, and that too, to the teachers about student motivation and connecting to students. Also, Dr. Padhiyar was speaking all in English to help bring up the teachers level of English and would rarely use Gujarati. Lastly the point that stuck from that lecture was when Dr. Padhiyar said, some times we have to teach in a way where we are describing colors to the blind who have never seen. We have to find ways and different ways, and make it happen.

The speech and debate class.

After that we went to watch a dance class practice and we saw their faces light up when they were talking with Bhanji Uncle (they even got Bhanji Uncle to dance with them!). Bhanji Uncle is very familiar with the kids; he does online video conference classes with the kids to teach english. We then went and sat in on a 6th grade speech and debate class. I had the opportunity to teach along with Bhanji Uncle and Aunty and Dad to help them with their presentations and delivery. Even though it was just their second day of speech class (they just officially added it), they already were taking our critique and applying it slowly, all with a positive attitude. We went on to go see kids prepare for the celebration on December 28th in music class and then Kevin Bhai took me and dad on a tour of the campus; the campus has developed so nicely and has so many great amenities like the swimming pool, the open areas to play, the playground, and even a rope zip line. And this is all in addition the the hostel, school, and cafeteria. Also it is so beautiful and peaceful, a truly amazing atmosphere.

The school courtyard.
(View from the school entrance lobby)

Kids had an hour and a half or so after classes ended for free time, and as we learned, each is assigned to a different activity each day but is free to do their own thing within that, like one class was assigned to reading while another was allotted the playground area.

After that they had some time in their hostels to prepare for prayer time and dinner. We joined them for prayer and after a little while of prayer which was mainly led by the students, students presented jokes, trivia, news, and a few other things. This is normal for each night to have prayer then a mix of everything before they went off to dinner.

Evening prayers in the hostel courtyard.

And as for dinner. Wow. Just wow. The last time we came in 2008, snack time in the cafeteria was a mess everywhere. Today as kids entered the cafeteria they took their shoes off outside, sat in lines, and waited their turn to be served. The servers were their own classmates who were the servers for the day. After getting food they sat down on the table and ate, while as the line cleared the next kids stood up from the floor to go get their food and that continued. Also as each kid was finished they had to show a designated peer their plate so they could check that everything was finished and no food was being wasted, if there was leftovers, they had to go back and finish it. What a great way to teach kids to get only what they need (they can go back and get as many seconds as they want)) and to teach them not to waste food. There was no fuss or mess and everything worked like a well oiled machine. I'm proud to say that, I don't think we even run lunch/dinner like this in America, they are doing a fantastic job with this!

Girls sitting in lines waiting for their turn to get food.

Boys side of the cafeteria.

After dinner at around 7, they then have a little time to themselves, and then from 8:00-9:30 pm they go back to school for reading and homework. They then head to the car to get a snack before bedtime and are in the hostels by 10:30ish.

It's a long day for the kids, and the teachers too, but you can see how much the kids are enjoying being here and that says a lot about the teachers and assistants like Kevin Bhai, Chetnaben, and Manishaben and countless others. It is both amazing and so motivating to see how how much effort the teachers are putting forth, especially Dr. Padhiyar.

Dad and Kevin Bhai walking the beautiful road on campus.

- Aekta